At the beginning of the week, President Trump along with Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, and David Perdue, R-Georgia, announced the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, bill to better manage immigration into the United States.

The RAISE Act would reduce legal immigration by half and would establish a merit-based system based on education, English-language ability, high-paying job offers, and age.

Currently, over one million immigrants gain residency yearly. Most are low or unskilled workers. More than 50% of all immigrant households receive welfare benefits, which is much higher than the 30% of native born Americans who do.

At the announcement, President Trump said, “This legislation demonstrates our compassion for struggling American families who deserve an immigration system that puts their needs first and that puts America first. This legislation will not only restore our competitive edge in the 21st century, but it will restore the sacred bonds of trust between America and its citizens.”

In spite of the lying rhetoric spewed by many, the United States is not a nation of immigrants. As I showed readers of the True Dollar Journal back on Tuesday, August 5, 2014, in THE BIG LIE: AMERICANS ARE A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS, the United States never has been a nation of immigrants.

From 1770 onward immigration has been a fraction of population, never exceeding 15% in any decade and having been as low as 0.6%.

Over the history of the USA, American-born population has averaged 91.7%.

It's only since Billy Clinton that Americans have witnessed an uptick in immigration population relative to Americans, averaging 12% since 1990.

Economic illiterates everywhere, from current House speaker Paul Ryan, journalists at the Establishment's media and slew of dopey professors with PhDs in economics claim that economic growth of the United States will be harmed by curtailing immigration.

Yet, during some of the best years of economic life in the USA, between 1940 and 1990, immigrant population averaged 6.7% of population.

In truth, economic growth comes from increasing buying power and not from increasing population, ever.

If what the pro-immigrant pushers say is true, how do they explain Norway?

Norwegians are 1.23 times richer per person than Americans on much slower population growth.

Norway population growth has remained under 1% a year every year since 1960 save seven between 2008 and 2015 when the rate barely exceeded 1%. Yet GDP per Norwegian in Norway is nearly $71,000.

USA population growth has exceeded 1% nearly every year since 1960. Yet, Americans are poorer than Norwegians.

Yet, once the effects of inflation get removed, it can be seen that prices expressed in True Dollars™ have been falling. That stands to reason. Every year, producers become slightly more efficient and thus can maintain margins (buying power) on lower true prices.

Legal immigration has been getting out of control increasingly since the 1970s. It needs to be cut if ordinary Americans ever hope to increase their true earnings.